Returning
by ZestyRice
Summary: Sasuke does many devious things...such as return to Konoha, sneak into her house, and show up shirtless, and later on presents to her with a ring in his hands...SasuSaku iUndergoing revision!
1. Return

Okay, so here it is, the first chapter revised and all. I'm kind of dissapointed; revising made the first few chapters a bit dull, but don't worry-it'll get better. Enjoy! This has become somewhat of an eyesore for me... Dx

And I hope I didn't dissapoint any of those who've been waiting for the next chapter. Don't kill me!

* * *

After a day of substituting for one of Iruka's classes, she was relieved to return home after the adventure she had been in. Today, she took the class out into the forest near the training grounds to go over the cases of an overnight mission. After one of the kids tossed a twig and awoke an angry bear, she spent the other half of the class's time escaping near-death for _all_ of the kids and healing scrapes and cuts and God knows what else while giving a lecture on wild animals.

'_A friggin' _twig_! What is it with kids and sticks these days?'_

After taking a quick shower, she threw on her clothes and work apron and tied up her hair. She worked a few hours a week at the Konoha Café-just for some extra bucks and for something to do. Teaching class, being a busboy, and mountains of office work-she seemed to do everything _except_ be a shinobi lately (really because Shizune was gone and Tsunade-shishou had nobody else to do paperwork for her so Sakura was automatically her replacement work-slave, "unable" to do missions at the time being.) All of it was a complete bore, but it was better than feeling useless at home.

She headed to the café drowsily. Despite the refreshing shower, that class really did take a lot out of her.

'_My arms are crumbling…hmm… I promised Ino "fantasy karaoke" tonight too…aughh.'_ Inwardly sighing, she hoped sneaking a few cups of coffee would help her energy deficiency at the time…the last time she was tired, she found herself in a cup of decaf hearing the faint demands of her stout boss.

Reaching the glass doors, she went to pick up her card and punched it in.

"Oi Sakura! You're late!"

'_Aw man.'_

--

'_I've succeeded. So he's gone forever… I've only got one more to go…' _He jumped branch from branch, limbs still searing with pain from that fateful night. An opening with a brighter light was coming up about five jumps away.

'_It's guaranteed that this won't be easy…'_

--

After a few hours of unappreciated labor and a lousy kid throwing pudding around, Sakura finally sat down and took a few minutes to doze off for a while. It was about 9 'o clock right now and more people had been streaming in to see the Friday Nights' Special Performances at the café; it was basically an amateur talent show that everyone went to because the café prices were half off during the show.

She drifted off slowly, her eyes aching intensely. After a while of ignoring loud sounds and blurred visions in the background, she was suddenly awoken.

"Sakura! You're up-be the MC and keep yourself awake for once! There's a big crowd out there tonight, so show some enthusiasm!" Her manager rapped on the table in little knocks, making her head violently shake inside like a gong.

"Yeah, yeah..." She answered and swerved through the crowds as she made her way to the room leading backstage. Her mouth pulled into an automatic scowl.

'_Hmmm…I _may_ just quit.'_

She stopped mid-step – feeling as if the air was pressuring her body, making it dense…it was suddenly hard to move. Sakura gripped the old microphone from the stand and walked hesitantly, but smoothly, from the curtains and onto the blinding stage.

"Hey there…" she uttered. Her lips trembled oddly. The crowd became somewhat hushed.

She paused and sensed an irregularly large force. It was compressing her lungs, making her even more nervous. She looked up and saw a shockingly familiar face.

--

A few minutes earlier…

If it was anyone, it would definitely be her to take him back in-no matter what the circumstance. She had, after all, followed him around like her life depended on it. All he had to do was find his "little lost puppy."

He had been searching for her for at least 30 minutes already and the sky had started to sprinkle. She probably moved from her old house, and he already checked the training grounds, the academy, and the team's old usual spots. He even spied through the Godaime's place to find that she wasn't in there at all, but just a drunken Hokage sleeping.

'_Dammit, it shouldn't be this hard!' _he grimaced.

He settled down for a bit from his rooftop search and began walking towards the market. How could he not even find _her_ of all people? Her hair and chakra could be found a mile away, and obviously he couldn't just go ask someone-he was wanted (and not in the _usual_ way) and it would look suspicious. The rain poured harder. He poofed up a disguise and walked under the safe covering on the side of a local restaurant.

'_KC…'_ He read to himself off of the labels on the small table and its two chairs that sat next to him. He sighed deeply as he slicked his hair back and settled himself on one of the café's chairs. He busied himself by tracing the metal engraving on the table.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiieeeeek!

Hearing deafening feedback, he turned his head and looked through the glass windows of the café towards the source. He saw a trembling woman holding a microphone…a _pink-haired_ woman. A crooked smile subtlety spread across his face.

"Here she is! Our ever perky MC!"

He smirked silently to himself as he watched her ruffle her fingers through her pink hair while bending over to pick up the fallen microphone.

'_Bingo.'_

She stood nervously in front of the crowd and held the microphone clumsily. She never had stage fright of any sort, but today…there was some kind of…disturbance.

'_Damned, bright stage lights.'_

She looked out at the crowd directly to look professional. She took a deep breath and was ready to continue speaking, but she froze. In the distance, in the back of the crowded tables, there was a man. His clothes were a bit different but…

'_He looks like him…Sasuke!'_

He had slipped through the doors of the café. He watched her carefully and waited to make eye contact with her.

When her mouth became dry, her eyes started to dart around and landed on the same, Sasuke-like man again. He suddenly glared at her intently, and his gaze alone was powerful. It was all too strange; it made her dizzy.

"Umm…" She spoke into the microphone.

There was a loud thud on stage and horrible sound feedback when she collapsed on the stage. With blurry vision, she could see the very same boy giving a devious smirk before vanishing before her eyes; everything was back to black. She could hear the gasps of the audience and loud chatter before her hearing, too, faded. He quickly dashed with immense speed and carried her off the stage and out of the café before anyone could even catch a glimpse of him. He seemed almost invisible as he headed towards her apartment.

Before losing consciousness, she felt cool arms scoop her up. She took a whiff of the person and frankly, he didn't smell very nice. Looking up, the man looked down on her and his silhouette quickly faded to dark -she was out.

"Hello…_Sakura_."

--

After rummaging through her bag and finding her address, he found and slipped into her home easily and set her on top of her cushioned bed. The moonlight shone on her as she breathed; it was somewhat calming. Sasuke scanned her home thinking that he would soon be bunking here soon. The estates where he lived so long ago were old and rotting from the neglect to tend to it-it would take at least a week just to restore just his house.

Her abode seemed refined and simple, how his old home used to be-except less…girly. Blechh. He walked out into the balcony in her room and looked out from it. Her apartment was seemingly grand from inside but it was a mere room on the third floor of an old apartment building. The rain had stopped and the night was at its deepest and darkest shade of blue tonight-just how he liked it.

He set off to find "the gift." Well, _after_ he rummaged her refrigerator for a small tomato snack.


	2. Done Right

Yum. The second chapter To be honest, after revision, the story seems like it's straying from it's original course...well, not from _that_ course, but it's a lot different. Anyways, this chapter's really short (but you have _no_ idea how many times I looked over this single chapter.) Enjoy.

* * *

Her eyes opened to a slit and she felt something warm underneath her. From the side of her right eye, she saw a bird lift off of her balcony. It was nearly dawn. She was…home? She looked across the bed where her bag was…it was there. She remembered leaving it at work…She didn't remember _leaving_ work, though.

'_Work! What _did_ happen at work?!'_

"What the hell?" She quickly sat up and looked around at her surroundings. She sat shocked as she hugged her arms.

"…warm…"

She frantically yanked at the pull string on the lamp on the small bed stand and shoved her right hand under the light. Someone had gripped her hard enough to leave marks on her arm. She lay back on her bed figuring she was too tired to even move. A tear ran down the side of her face. She had a good guess about who brought her home.

--

He had left his temporary home to return to the estates. If he was to do anything before _officially_ returning to the village, it would be to go home; not to reminisce, of course (that would suck) but to retrieve an item. If he was going to get _married_ to revive the clan and all, it was going to be done right.

Sasuke had wandered the compound to see how it held up (not too well) and then went into his former home. Traveling through his house to his parent's room, he stepped on a squeaky board, the one he had stepped on each time he went down the hall when he was small. Entering, he saw how the room had collected much dust. He headed for the dressing table, lifted off its mirror and began tapping the wall behind the mirror in various places. His mother had shown him this long ago and he was thankful to remember it.

'_There!'_

He tapped the hollow spot again to be sure and then pressed it in like a button. A small drawer ricocheted out of the wall, a small boxed casing inside it. He raised the box up and blew the dust off it. Popping it open, the light beaming in the room reflected off the contents brilliantly. His mother and father's wedding rings were preserved nicely.

'_It only needs to be polished.'_

His mother and father valued their uniting symbol too much to have it accidentally fall down a drain or to have it snatched by a pickpocket or any of that sort, so they stashed it safely in their room. If he was going to wear any ring, it would be that one.

"Perfect."

He appeared back at Sakura's apartment and sneaked in from her balcony window, relieved that she was still asleep. He looked at her for a moment and then stared at the ring and thought deeply.

'_If she refuses?...'_

He stuffed the ring in his pocket crossly and headed for the living room of her apartment. He sat down carefully on her couch and sank into its silkiness. He took a deep breath and noticed that he smelled horribly of nature and bloody wounds. He did have a hard time _killing _Itachi, after all. He looked around for a bathroom of some sort so he could wash the stench off. He found one to his left and entered it. He locked and closed the door and pulled off his open shirt and proceeded to switch on the lights.

The bathroom was…big. It had the toilet in another separate compartment and in the huge bathtub with a regular shower box parallel to it. It smelled of sweet sugar in there-it made him feel awkward...he didn't like how it made his nose tingly. He hoped Sakura wouldn't wake up to the noise of the bath, especially to find him in the state that he is.

He turned on the bathtub water and waited for it to fill while he yanked off his pants. He stared at himself in the mirror in front of him. His face had become very gruff…he didn't recognize himself anymore. He had slight stubble on his chin, light fuzz on his lip, and dark rings under his eyes. It'd been a fairly long time since he got a good look at himself in a mirror.

'_When did this even happen?… '_ He thought as he rubbed the bottom of his chin.

His eyes had a deeper sullenness now and his facial expression was stuck on a serious tone. He stopped the water and slowly slipped into it.

'_Getting used to this…not a problem…marriage on the other hand…'_ He sank down and blew tiny bubbles. It was the first time he took a good bath without his hair sticking out on end.

After stepping out and giving himself a quick shave with a chakra infused kunai, he found that it was still just 4 a.m. in the morning-plenty of time to relax until his future…_wife_ would awake. He decided to use his time wisely to plan out how he would explain all this to his former teammate (and then to his other teammate, then Kakashi, then the Godaime, then probably the whole freaking town.) He lay down on the bouncy cushions of the living room couch. The spare clothes he picked from the bathroom closet felt strange against his skin (he only wore the pants, though); oddly, Sakura had stored a few _male _outfits. He felt exhausted but he knew there was no way to put this off to the side. What would happen if she said no? What would he do then? They'd probably execute him for being an apprentice to that wretched snake sannin. A familiar frown appeared. His thoughts all seemed so bothersome, so telling himself to wing it all, he swept his mind clear and shut his eyes for some quiet rest.


	3. Don't Dream, Talk

I noticed that I've forgotten to put any disclaimers so far, so..."NARUTO ISN'T MINE. CHARACTERS BELONG TO KISHIMOTO." I hope putting that in caps might make up for the first two chapters. Lol. Okay, anyways, now in _this_ chapter, things are a little more entertaining! Chapters are getting seriously short..

* * *

Her eyes opened slowly…everything was a total blur. She sprang up and looked around. Her room was the same. She jumped off her bed and went over to the balcony and looked out from it. Everything was quiet and to her surprise-orderly. She would have expected that if the boy from last night really was the Uchiha, then someone would have spotted him by now and have caused a big commotion. But there was none of the sort.

'_That's right…Naruto's on a mission right now…commotion isn't possible.' _She thought she was just probably delusional or something…but she remembered feeling that warm spot on her arm last night…

"Nah." She waved it off and shook her head a bit.

She changed into more homely attire; a tank top and shorts and headed to go eat some breakfast and take some medicine. She didn't feel too well, but at least it wasn't like the horrible hangovers she got when she celebrated with the Godaime… She opened the door and stood at the doorway as she studied her view. Her regular living room and kitchen. She felt some warm air rush onto her skin as it sent a small warm shiver down her side. She looked to her right where the bathroom door was supposed to be. It was open and was emitting hot steam. Someone had used her bathtub, and by the smell, her bath salt too.

She suddenly saw black spikes rise behind her view of the back of her couch. She jumped back a little and drew out a hidden kunai. The spikes rose all the way up. Before she could even see the mysterious person's face come up, he had vanished in a blur. For a moment he was gone and she had thought she was still delusional.

"Gotta go get some tea and aspirin or something before I pass out or something…" she stood straight from her battle ready stance and shook her head a bit more.

She had only taken not even half a step when she bumped into something burning hot. She rubbed her head while she tried to open her eyes slowly. When her vision was visible again, she looked in front of her. She saw a bare and pale torso. She tilted her head up and found the dark eyes of Sasuke Uchiha staring into her.

Her breath ran short. She had trouble breathing as she backed up. He was getting closer, pressing onto her. That man was Sasuke. He was shirtless and was possibly trying to get close enough to get skin contact. It was everything she or any other girl could ever dream of. But suddenly she didn't want it anymore.

"Sakura…" He raised his hand to slowly get some hold of her. She panicked inside-she was just dying. She quickly shifted to dodge his hand and she reformed herself to straighten out her posture. He took a step into the full sunlight and stopped. God, his chest was just gleaming.

"Sakura." He repeated, more angel-like than ever.

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice and she clenched her fists.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"…don't tell me you've forgotten. Who do I _look_ like?" a crooked frown formed and his harsh sarcasm lingered in the air.

"…Sasuke?"

"Yes, Sakura." It was unbelievable; it took her a moment to respond to this.

"No…you're not Sasuke…he's been gone for more than 7 years." It would make them about 21 now.

"I'm back, Sakura. Who _else_ would I be?" His face became more serious and his eye flashed from black to red.

'…_he's really him? Oh god…this is a dream isn't it? If I walk past him, maybe he'll just…disappear…' _

She decided to test it out. That's right-it was all a dream. It would certainly explain all the weird things happening. So, ignoring his question and taking a deep breath with closed eyes, she casually stepped aside and marched past him towards the kitchen, her head held high. But before she could walk another step, one of his rough hands caught her arm.

"Hey!" She whipped her head around.

'_**Not a dream at all!'**_

'_This is insane!'_

"It's really me." This time he looked at her with a softer face. Then he suddenly pinched her on her arm and she flinched.

"You thought you were dreaming, weren't you?" he smirked.

She stared up at him in awe and then rearranged her features into a scowl, rubbing her arm. She saw his gaze trail off from her face to something behind her, his smirk becoming more prominent. Turning around, she saw her…ahem, unmentionables she had left to dry on a hanger hanging on the ceiling fan. She gaped in horror and dashed to retrieve them to her room.

When she returned, he was already sitting at the kitchen table (now with a shirt on), his arms aloof and hanging from the chair. She came over and shakily pulled out a chair.

"So Sasuke, I think…" He gestured her to sit down and she did so, hesitantly.

"…let's talk." With her elbows on the table, fingers interlaced, and a confidently refined look on her face, she settled down for the upcoming interrogation.

"Sure," He smirked and mimicked her pose. "let's talk."

* * *

I take it that most of you recognize that _**'bold italics' **_is inner Sakura and "unmentionables" are bras, panties, things that you could never yell out in public (for those that don't know.)

And I'd love some feedback, criticism, anything. Tell how my story sounds so far, and if you like the older version better or not.

I guess I'll leave it at here, at least until I get some feedback or some more time to update. Thank you for your time!


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